Dancing on a Bed of Sharp Knives
by pinkiethebandit
Summary: Jack keeps a promise made to the princesses of the sea to watch over their youngest sister and falls into a hopeless love, for his little mermaid must marry another or die.


**AN:** This story is based fairly closely on the short story by Hans Christian Andersen. You don't need to have read that to understand what's going on here (there's a summary worked in), but I highly recommend that you do if you haven't because it's infinitely superior to my retelling (except for not having Jack in it; Jack is perfection :D)

Also, full disclosure, I (judiciously, I hope) borrowed some dialog from the original story for the prince and once for the mermaids.

* * *

Jack heard her soft, keening sobs on the wind and had to come. She was sitting on one of the last of a flight of broad marble steps that led from a lofty palace down to the sea, her feet and the muslin hem of her nightgown soaking in the cool water. Though no tears fell, the force of her pain was all the more powerful for it.

"What's ails you, sweet maiden?" he whispered, heart twisting into knots. Never before had he been so thoroughly captivated by living beauty, nor seen it marred by such hurt.

She looked up at him with wide, expressive eyes that told of innocence and a soul of love. And surprise, but hardly more than Jack's own.

"You heard me speak? You see me?"

She nodded, her sobs momentarily dispelled.

Jack's heart leapt to his throat. How could this be? No human had ever been able to see him before. "Oh," he said. "You're not human."

She shook her head despondently and looked down at her legs. Jack's heart plummeted. He had not meant to cause her any more of a pain he knew too well himself. He should have thought before loosing the words.

"Forgive me," he said gently, sitting beside her. When she didn't respond, he followed her gaze to her feet. He gasped at the sight of them, for they were as ragged and bloody as if she had danced on shattered crystal. He took off his cloak, filled part of it with ice and set it in his lap. Slowly, so as not to frighten her, he lifted one of her legs and placed the foot on top of his bundle of ice. Initially she jerked back from his touch, but Jack held her firm, murmuring reassurances. The muscles of her calf relaxed and she sighed as the cuts began to numb. She did not resist when he drew the other foot up out of the water.

"How did you come to this, sweet maiden?"

"Wherever she does tread, it is as if she treads upon a bed of sharp knives," a lilting voice unlike any that ever sounded above the surface of the sea answered. Jack looked towards it and saw a line of mermaids newly risen from the depths, only one of whom was bold enough to venture near to him. The eyes of the other four darted between him and their brave sister anxiously.

Beside him the little maiden's eyes seemed to plead with the mermaid to say no more.

"She is our littlest sister, a princess of the sea, and she did trade her mermaid's tail and her voice of sweet crystal bells to the sea witch for two legs, that she may win the love of a human prince and an immortal soul. But she bleeds in heart and body for the love of this blind man whose life she did save," the mermaid said. The sorrowful music of her words was so compelling that Jack felt himself swept in and cast under to drown.

A soft touch on his arm buoyed him. It was the little princess, and her eyes said to not mourn for her, that she was strong enough to bear the pain for this love that was made of wishes and hope and precious dreams.

The mermaid opened her mouth to speak again, and Jack knew what she would ask of him and what answer he would give. "You, who can go unseen where we cannot, will you watch over our littlest sister and soothe her heart as you have soothed her burning feet?"

Jack met her eyes and nodded solemnly. "I will," he promised.

"Then we will take comfort and not grieve so for our lost little sister." One more tender look passed between the little princess and the mermaids before they descended back down to the Sea King's castle, arms linked and faces lit by the Moon.

The little princess was loath at first to burden him, but Jack was steadfast in his determination to honor the wishes of her sisters. That night he followed her up to the palace and watched over her as she slept on a velvet cushion at the prince's door. He gazed upon the prince for the first time then and thought him handsome but far too…earthly, for a maiden of such singularity. He sighed, thinking that were it put to him she would be matched with a child of the sun or perhaps a minor godling. She deserved to be worshipped and shown joy beyond any the human mind was capable of imagining, not slept at the door to her master's room like a favored pup.

The next day Jack's estimation of the prince only sank more as he watched the little mermaid dance for her love. How could the boy not see her pain? The dance was exquisite, yes, enchanting, and of course no grimace could overcome the loving smile upon her face. But her eyes held the truth. Unable to endure it any longer, Jack called upon the barest breath of wind to cushion her step. For a moment her face betrayed her surprise and she _almost_ lost her poise, but in the next instant she was balanced on the air, her every move bespeaking relief. All those who looked on marveled at her grace and the prince clapped in delight to see his 'little foundling' float even more lightly than before. Only Jack and the sea princess knew of the cool breeze beneath her feet. She sent him a grateful smile and all thought of the blind prince left him.

That afternoon the prince rode out with his fellows and the little mermaid by his side, Jack winging along above. They rode deep into the woods and the boys hunted while the little mermaid looked on. She trailed behind atop her horse, waving her encouragement whenever the prince glanced her way.

"Are you not weary of this, little princess?" Jack asked.

She shrugged as if to say that she could never be weary of anything her prince enjoyed. Jack rolled his eyes and raised his staff. Winter rarely came here of its own accord, but even so, heavy clouds gathered to await his command. He brought the crook down and a gentle snow began to fall. The boys looked up in consternation. Jack snickered before launching the first snowball at the prince. Immediately snow was flying in all directions and the little mermaid laughed and it was like the pealing of clear morning bells. The prince heard the sound and came to her, reaching up to take her face in his hands. The little mermaid leaned down into his touch and he kissed her lips chastely. Jack scowled but made certain she did not see.

As was her wont, the little princess again descended the marble steps to the edge of the sea that night. As was becoming his wont, Jack followed and sat beside her. Her sisters came again, closer this time, and told her of all the comings and goings of her friends below the surface. Their voices still carried a note of sadness, but it was dampened some relative to the previous night. The boldest of them again addressed Jack. "Tell us, friend, how does our little sister fill her days under the sun?"

"She dances, fair lady," Jack answered. "And she smiles and the sight of her is a joy to all with eyes to see."

"Our sister smiles? She is oft happy then?"

"Yes, lady, for she is with her prince always," Jack replied, trying to keep any hint of bitterness to himself.

The mermaids lingered until their littlest sister could scarce keep her eyes from shutting. Finally she rose and made her way up the steps to the castle for the night, but Jack remained at the bottom.

"You wish to know more of our sister, why she must stay by the prince's side?" the mermaid asked sadly. Her eyes shone like broken glass in the moonlight. "We who dwell beneath do not see the world above until our fifteenth year. Until then we dream of its wonders, and none more so than our darling sister. Finally her turn came, and she rose and beheld a great ship and a splendid celebration in honor of the prince. Entranced by his beauty, she stayed long into the night, and so was present when a vicious storm took the ship. Her prince sank beneath the waves and she dove after him, for he could not live in our father's realm. When morning came she laid him upon the shore and watched as a young girl fetched others to help him. Only when he was safe did she return to us."

"But our little sister was not happy then. She could no longer find peace in her home, thinking always of the world above and the human prince. She yearned to live among his people, to know the hills and the woods and the fields. We did what we could to bring her some measure of solace, as did our grandmother. Would that we hadn't," she said, choking on a sob. Not until her voice steadied did the mermaid continue. "Our grandmother told her of the immortal souls of men and it became our sister's dearest wish to gain a human soul of her own. One night, while all the court of the Sea King made merry in the ballroom, our sister went to the lair of the sea witch. The witch gave her a draught that did cleave her fish's tail into two legs. Now she must make the prince cherish her more dearly than even his mother and father, else she will perish the morning after he marries another."

Jack was silent throughout the tale. His heart ached anew for the littlest princess of the sea, his sweet maiden. "I will help her win the prince's love," he said quietly.

The mermaids looked on him with a pity they gave no voice. "You have our thanks, Jack Frost."

* * *

In the days that followed Jack remained close by the little mermaid's side, easing her pain where he could. Though he'd promised to help her, he found little opportunity. The prince regarded her with the fondness he might have for a beloved pet. Even when he kissed her, there was only affection, no passion.

Once, Jack heard him say to the little mermaid, "You are dear to me, for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young maiden whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again. I was in a ship that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple, where several young maidens performed the service. The youngest of them found me on the shore, and saved my life. I saw her but twice, and she is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like her, and you have almost driven her image out of my mind. She belongs to the holy temple, and my good fortune has sent you to me instead of her; and we will never part."

Jack could have punched him.

The little mermaid only sighed deeply, and Jack knew that tears would have flooded her eyes were she human. The prince left to tend to some business in the town then, and for once the little mermaid did not follow. Instead she wandered the halls of the palace, Jack by her side. They came to a balcony overlooking the sea. She rested her hands on the railing, sunlight setting the long russet waves of her hair aflame.

"She is not here. You are." Jack offered feebly.

The little mermaid looked up at him and the wan smile she offered in return told him she knew that. But it still hurt that her prince loved that temple girl better than he loved his foundling. The smile faltered.

Jack reached for her, folded her in his arms as she shook with emotion. She buried her face in his chest and he tangled his fingers in her hair. They stood like that for a long time. Finally she looked up into his eyes. "You feel like home," hers said. "Like the chill of the deep. Thank you."

He thought again of losing her to death should the prince wed another. A feeling akin to suffocation rose up from his chest.

And that gave him an idea.

* * *

Like a bow drawn taut ready to let fly an arrow, Jack waited for a chance to enact his plan. It came but a day later when the prince decided to spend the afternoon rowing on a nearby lake with his fellows. Naturally, the little princess attached herself to the party, taking her place in the prince's two-seat skiff when they reached the lake.

The day was cool and clear, typical of winter in that part of the world. He let them enjoy the ride for a time, conjuring a light snow to play with a gang of children who were also passing a lazy day by the water. When the prince's boat reached the center of the lake, Jack blew one last snow flurry for the children before leaping into the sky. The wind carried him over the boat.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered, though he needn't have.

She looked up at him in question. The prince followed her gaze but saw nothing.

Without replying, Jack called on the wind to help him. It came with no hesitation, jostling the boat fiercely. The little mermaid gripped the sides, but the wind, guided by Jack's will, scooped her up and dumped her overboard. She surfaced immediately, innately able to tread water even with two cumbersome legs, as Jack had known she would be.

"No, sweet maiden. Struggle, as if you were drowning. Your prince will save you," he said.

Her eyes widened in understanding. For a moment Jack thought her integrity would prevent her from doing such a thing, but steel flashed in her eyes. She thrashed and the prince scrambled to pull her back into the skiff. Heedless of the water pouring off of her, he clutched her to him and asked her over and over if she was truly unhurt. She nodded, smiling so that her large eyes all but disappeared.

A war raged inside him as Jack looked on. The feelings would not quiet, not when the prince continued to hover and dote on Jack's sea princess for days after. In the corridors, alone but for Jack, the servants whispered about proposals and bridal gowns.

Finally, Jack could endure no more of the prince's attentions and the servants' talk of marriage. "I must leave for a short time," he told the little mermaid.

"Come back soon, dear friend," her eyes said.

Jack asked the wind to watch over her. A soft breeze ruffled his hair before running down his back comfortingly.

* * *

Jack rode the wind to a neighboring kingdom. He could not journey any further without a strange pressure building inside him.

The children greeted the fun he brought with howls of laughter and together they had some merry times. But all the while, Jack's thoughts were with his sea princess. Did she, even as he thought of her, don a bridal gown pure as fresh laid snow to meet her groom at the altar? He could see the scene as clearly as if it were unfolding before him, how her eyes sparkled with wishes and hope and dreams and how the man beside her was dim in the shadow cast by her radiance. He almost returned to her then, that he might take her by the arm and walk with her on the day all her hopes were realized. Instead he remained where he sat on a castle parapet overlooking the sea, frost glazing the stone around him.

Presently, a magnificent ship sailed into the harbor below. Bells tolled and trumpets blared in the still morning air. On his way to get a better look at the ship, he heard talk among the townspeople that a handsome prince was come to wed their beautiful princess. Jack smiled to himself, for he had glimpsed their princess and her famed beauty paled beside that of the little mermaid.

He came upon the ship's royal procession wending its way up to the castle and gasped at the sight. In an open carriage sat his sea princess on the arm of her prince. The prince murmured in her ear, an expression of reassurance on his face; and the little mermaid smiled, but to Jack her apprehension was plain. She feared this princess whom all the land thought unmatched in looks as well as virtue.

Jack swooped low over the carriage. The little mermaid started when he spoke. "Sweet maiden, I am here. Fear not that which cannot be. His heart is yours."

"It is not. But I will believe it is so, for now," her eyes answered.

The guests were feted with great gusto by the king. The princess did not appear until nearly a week after their arrival. When she did, the prince looked on her with wonder.

"It was you," said the prince, "who saved my life when I lay dead on the beach," and he folded his blushing bride in his arms. "Oh, I am too happy," said he to the little mermaid; "my fondest hopes are all fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me is great and sincere."

Jack watched the little mermaid press a tender kiss to the prince's hand in answer, his heart breaking along with hers. The betrothal was announced and the people rejoiced. Jack held the little princess's hand as all the clamor and bustle and pomp swirled around the stillness of her despair. On the day of the wedding, he watched her heart bleed out. It was as if he could see the life fleeing her, and he gripped her hand all the more tightly.

After the ceremony there was a festival aboard the prince's ship. "I must dance for my love one last time," her tired eyes said. And she did, with an unearthly grace that tore at his heart. None present could take their eyes from her, save the prince and his bride who spared barely a glance, so entranced were they by one another. Tears of sorrow and fury and love froze on Jack's cheeks.

In the quiet of the night, after the noise and horror of the celebration, her sisters came. "We have given our hair to the witch," said they, "to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish's tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; he or you must die before sunrise."

Jack knew his strong, sweet, courageous maiden. He knew already her choice, even as she drifted like one in a trance to the tent where the prince and his bride slept. She emerged moments later and flung the evil thing into the water. He took her hand once again and they faced east, where the first red tinge of dawn bled into the night sky.

At length: "I have known no truer friend than you, Jack Frost," said her eyes. "Always you have been by my side when I thought I would die from the loss of my voice, my home, my family and now my dreams. I thank you, dearest heart. Would that I could be free to roam the earth with you."

Jack could not speak.

"I am afraid, Jack," she said without words. "I fear the dark of endless night with no hope for the day. I fear to be gone, as if I had never been at all." With a soft, keening sob she buried her face in his chest.

"Never," he choked out into her hair. "Never that, my princess. My heart will bear you forth into eternity."

Her eyes shone bright when they again met his. "I will go now." She took a step towards the side of the ship.

"Wait," Jack cried. They had but minutes until the sun rose, but he was overcome with a terrible greed for those minutes. A phantom of memory, indistinct, as if it came from another lifetime, hit him and he felt that he knew what it was to die and this was it. "Dance with me."

She came into his arms, warm and real for the last time, and a small smile broke through the mask of grief on her face. Jack dashed away the flecks of ice on his cheeks. Then the wind sang for them and it was the loveliest sound he'd ever felt, next to the hum of the little mermaid's body pressed against his. Together they stepped and spun, perfectly in sync by virtue of the sea and the wind. And Jack finally knew the pain of dancing on a bed of sharp knives for the one you love.

The music of the wind died down as the lower half of the sun began to rise over the horizon. Jack took her face in both hands and leaned in close. He waited then, their breath mingling. She rested a small, perfect hand to his cheek, frost melting away beneath it, and he pressed his lips to hers. Her mouth was warm and sweet, a shock against the cold of his own. "Farewell, sweet maiden of my heart," he murmured against her lips.

At the last possible second, she backed away. Cast lingering, haunted eyes upon him and threw herself over the side of the ship.

The world lurched under him but he stood still, rigid. His eyes sought the Moon, faint in the light of dawn. "Please, no," he begged over and over again, frost patterns racing out from him to encase the ship as the tears fell so thick he could no longer open his eyes. Wind whirled around him, trying to ease his pain.

And over the frantic churn of the wind, he heard them. The children of the air, summoned to welcome a new sister. They rose up from the sea foam and in their midst one shone a brilliant silver, arrayed in a gown spun of moonlight. Where the others ascended to the clouds, she lingered. Jack hit his knees before her and sobbed as one parched by desert heat finally come to a well of sweet water. He drank in the sight of her, smiling and radiant and _free_.

"Jack, my friend, my heart," said the little princess and the airy, ethereal murmur of her voice brought a fresh wave of tears to his eyes. She crouched next to him and cupped his face as he had hers but a short eternity ago. "Let us away from this place where we both have hurt so. Show me your world of fun and mischief and joy."

He nodded, words catching in his throat, and wiped away the last of the tears. Together they leapt into the glorious, open sky, hand in hand.

* * *

**AN:** Oh, my heart! Towards the end this was so sad to write, but it was a good sad, if you know what I mean.

I kept catching myself humming Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain" while I worked, especially that line about feeling something die cause it's the last time. Appropriate?

Thank you for reading!


End file.
